Video-on-demand (VOD) service enables people to select the content they wish to experience, in their own homes or elsewhere (such as in hotel rooms), often at a time and date of their choosing. Video-on-demand may be offered on a pay-as-you-go basis, subscription basis, or combinations thereof. A person placing an order, e.g. request, for VOD content may be referred to as a subscriber, requestor, client, or purchaser of the content. Certain types of pay-per-view are examples of VOD service. Network personal video recording (nPVR) provides another example.
Broadcast content distribution models often involve the delivery of advertising in conjunction with program content. Often in such models, the advertising to provide with particular programming (a.k.a. asset content or video-on-demand content) is determined manually or in a static fashion that proves inflexible to meet the dynamic, personal nature of VOD service.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,659,539, 6,112,226, and 6,578,070 describe methods and systems for delivering digital data. However, none of these references describe inserting digital advertising into digital data.